Will 3 shamans work in 5v5 Arena?

[Emo?]

Hi, sins i got the offer to get boosted 10-60 by my paladin friend i decided to create 3x Draenei Shamans on his server. Thing is that i only play with 3 accounts, but i still would like to have a chanse to sucess in arena. I thought that if i play with my 3 shamans, one MS warrior and 1 paladin healer, would that work as a 5v5 team? Or wont i get the enuf burst as 3 shamans? Ive played mage now for about a month (on lvl 70), and i can say that its hard in arena for them, they are manageable, but still hard. Anyway what do u think?

- Emo?

[maxcom]

I haven't had any luck, 3 isnt enough to inta kill someone even with a healer. The strategy is completely different. I only know cause i play all kinda combinations of 10/week and 30% for max points... so try it out and let us know what your strategy is and what possibly worked? thanks!

[Kaynin]

Well, it should work, as long as the communication on the focus between you and the warrior is fast enough.

But if it is, then yeah, it should work just as fine, if not better against certain teams. Also, warrior brings a few extra things that are lovely for a boxer to have. AoE fear, some stuns here and there. Good dps, MS for dropping 'hard targets'.

[Emo?]

Yah u gues, MS is always good to have, but i really need it in this case sins i wont be able to nuke as fast as with 4 shamans. I have a Retri paladin that has full merciless atm, wold that be better? I mean if i pop WF + LB spam + his burst dmg, that would really sink a target fast, after that i dunno ofc ... maby a warrior is better i dunno.

Would 3 shamans + 1 ret pala + 1 holy pala work u think?
Discuss :P

[Kaynin]

Yah u gues, MS is always good to have, but i really need it in this case sins i wont be able to nuke as fast as with 4 shamans. I have a Retri paladin that has full merciless atm, wold that be better? I mean if i pop WF + LB spam + his burst dmg, that would really sink a target fast, after that i dunno ofc ... maby a warrior is better i dunno.

Would 3 shamans + 1 ret pala + 1 holy pala work u think?
Discuss :P

I'd go ms warrior. You already have your holy pally to do the neccesary bopping and dispelling. A BoP more can be nice, but paladins still lack CC, warriors have some CC. Granted, not much, but I'd say the warrior cc is better then the little the retridin adds (since you already have a holydin).

And ms warrior dps / retridin dps isn't -that- far apart. WF also supplements a warrior. Warrior just lasts longer, won't go oom and are just a little bit limited when to burst, as they have to save up rage for the burst first. But I'd say.

As far as tactic go, I'd probably go like this. (Considering most 5v5 are 3dps+2healers)

The first target you choose should be DPS, Open with an LB at the moment the warrior charges the target, followed by EM+NS+CL straight away. The target should die, the warrior intercepts the next target all the while saving rage upto this point. He drops MS on the second target. You start dps'ing and the warrior nukes his rage at this point. If both the targets were DPS, you win the fight. I think this way you can kill 2 very quickly.

Ofcourse things could be different. If the enemy i all clogged up, the warrior should intimidating shout, for example. But if the warrior saves his burst for the second dps, you should be able to handle the first. If you find you won't, then make sure MS is on the target. :p

[Emo?]

Yup, found some good info there. ty, do u think a holy pala will be a better chooise that a druid? or even a Disc priest?

[Kaynin]

Yes, since you are cc'able and paladins are good for anti-cc.

For that reason, holy paladins are probably best in 5v5 with the set up you're going for.

Since he's the only healer, being able to bubble and have a few free heals can make all the difference in 5v5 as well.

[Boylston]

We have added in a MS Warrior to my Shaman+Holy Pally team on occasion and it works OK. It's actually not too bad if you split DPS, too. We've had some decent success putting the warrior on a healer, tying them up, and then using the shammies to burst another target down.

It's not going to be as effective as a 4xShaman team, I don't think. At the start, it may be better if your shaman are undergeared, however.

[Evol]

Remembered this thread from a while ago... I just finished the third week of 3-boxing my shamans in 5v5 with an MS Warrior and Holy Paladin. We went 2-9 (lots of heated discussions on proper strategy), 7-3 and 6-4 (2 losses against full season 3 team) for those weeks and now sit at 1564. My gear is pretty bad as I've been hoarding points for next season, so I've done that with just the PvP blues and Kharazan cloth epics. Sporting about 700 damage, 8000 hp, 8000 AC, and 140 resilience... I finally relented and got the Season 3 helm after our last game this past week, and I'm drooling for Season 4 to start since I will have enough points banked to get the 4-piece bonus right away. The warrior is in full season 3 (got 2k in 2v2 with a druid) and the paladin is mostly season 3 and some karazhan/zul'amon epics (highest rating ever around 1700).

We use the setup spots that Ellay showed in his video a while back. The warrior helps immensely against teams with healers that like to just sit back and spam heals, as he can run around with Freedom and shut them down or apply MS to a target. He can also chase after runners (especially bridge jumpers in Blade's Edge) and prevent rezzers. We lose mostly to teams that are able to insta-gib my low AC/low HP shamans -- typically 4 dps teams, and heavy caster teams (especially mages who tear through totems with ice lance). Rogue+Warrior isn't too bad since I get a BoP that carries me long enough to down something.

The first week I had a lot of trouble with target selection. I think I was trying too hard to coordinate with the warrior, often asking him to pick the targets for me. After that didn't work, I just went into point-and-shoot mode, picking anything reasonable (dps first) that I could manage to click on in the first few seconds and letting the warrior assist me instead. This helped immensely. The warrior can intercept to my target for a stun and start spamming hamstring for an improved hamstring proc.

Based on the limited experience so far (limited time since I have a warlock and priest to also play, and my partners have 9 characters between them), I'd say this setup is definitely viable and the loss of damage from a 4th shaman is made up for in the added utility of the warrior. But you definitely have to be on the same page as the warrior. We play a lot of 2v2 together with other characters, and that helps our communication a lot.

My conservative hopes for season 4 are that we can reach 1700 for most of the season 4 gear. The highest I've gotten any character solo is around 1930 in 5v5 on my priest (we usually hover around 1850 though), so I'm not aiming too high just yet.

[yarr]

Remembered this thread from a while ago... I just finished the third week of 3-boxing my shamans in 5v5 with an MS Warrior and Holy Paladin. We went 2-9 (lots of heated discussions on proper strategy), 7-3 and 6-4 (2 losses against full season 3 team) for those weeks and now sit at 1564. My gear is pretty bad as I've been hoarding points for next season, so I've done that with just the PvP blues and Kharazan cloth epics. Sporting about 700 damage, 8000 hp, 8000 AC, and 140 resilience... I finally relented and got the Season 3 helm after our last game this past week, and I'm drooling for Season 4 to start since I will have enough points banked to get the 4-piece bonus right away. The warrior is in full season 3 (got 2k in 2v2 with a druid) and the paladin is mostly season 3 and some karazhan/zul'amon epics (highest rating ever around 1700).

We use the setup spots that Ellay showed in his video a while back. The warrior helps immensely against teams with healers that like to just sit back and spam heals, as he can run around with Freedom and shut them down or apply MS to a target. He can also chase after runners (especially bridge jumpers in Blade's Edge) and prevent rezzers. We lose mostly to teams that are able to insta-gib my low AC/low HP shamans -- typically 4 dps teams, and heavy caster teams (especially mages who tear through totems with ice lance). Rogue+Warrior isn't too bad since I get a BoP that carries me long enough to down something.

The first week I had a lot of trouble with target selection. I think I was trying too hard to coordinate with the warrior, often asking him to pick the targets for me. After that didn't work, I just went into point-and-shoot mode, picking anything reasonable (dps first) that I could manage to click on in the first few seconds and letting the warrior assist me instead. This helped immensely. The warrior can intercept to my target for a stun and start spamming hamstring for an improved hamstring proc.

Based on the limited experience so far (limited time since I have a warlock and priest to also play, and my partners have 9 characters between them), I'd say this setup is definitely viable and the loss of damage from a 4th shaman is made up for in the added utility of the warrior. But you definitely have to be on the same page as the warrior. We play a lot of 2v2 together with other characters, and that helps our communication a lot.

My conservative hopes for season 4 are that we can reach 1700 for most of the season 4 gear. The highest I've gotten any character solo is around 1930 in 5v5 on my priest (we usually hover around 1850 though), so I'm not aiming too high just yet.

cool, thanks for the writeup! =)

[Elektric]

I am currently running 3X70 Shaman in 5v5 and we are doing very well.

S3 Shoulder reroll teams are the only thing that can beat us. Im slowly gearing up to S3 and think that my team is easily capable of 2k. I run with a Priest healer and Warrior/Rogue. The Priests shield and Fear Ward are Priceless. Only having 3X Tremor totems does make a lucky timed fear a big annoyance and can really mix things up. The fear ward keeps my main stable so pressure stays on the target and the clones regroup much quicker than if they were all feared.

To say 3 shamans aren't as powerful as 4 shamans is true. Thats why I'm rolling a 4th atm. To say 3 Shamans dont have the burst DMG needed to take down a target and create a succesfull 5v5 team is wrong. I think my current 1717 rating proves that (hopefully +1800 this week). Ellay's video on "How To" is priceless. I can count on one hand the number of fights I have lost with that strat.

This leads me to my main point about why 3 Shaman is still a very powerful and capable group in a 5v5. Before blowing our Insta' Nuke its a practice that can be supported by Ellay that you need to soften the target. If they're soft, Im 90% certain that after taking 3X(1100dmg-2200dmg) Lightning bolts that the Insta' Nuke will drop them (This is why 3 shaman still work in 5v5). If you cant quickly drop the highest priority target or blow your insta nuke and something doesnt die, you will find very little success with this build.

My shaman average 4/5 the five kills in every arena match. Why? Because the rogues/warriors job in this set up is to keep the healers and dangerous dps from casting. We tried focusing one target but with 2-3 healer setups they can heal through the focused dmg. The good teams don't have any trouble anticipating your move since you're stationary. If the target isnt soft, we dont attack it. I let the warrior/rogue run around like a mad man and I do the killing.

Kill order is Warrior/Hunter , Shaman/Mage. Mages are the most trouble for me. With their nuking abiliy, Ice Block, and CS they are a nuisance. But without other DPS they are easily manageable. I usually put the warrior or rogue on them and then nuke down the higher priority targets. The Warrior/Rogue lets me know when they've iceblocked, Priest Dispels, and I gg'em :). The big success comes when you learn to save your insta nuke after you have 1 person down. Some targets are out of healing range and you normal CL+ES combo will put them out of business...using the Insta Nuke with one down makes it a GG real fast.

These are just my lessons learned and I figured I'd share. I noticed a big difference in surivability at 10K HPs, 11k armor, and 400 Resilience. I notice a larger amount of success in dropping people when I reached 800 +Dmg. My gear isn't the greatest, is good but I am still missing some +DMG enchants. Feel free to armory me and my team - Name: Elektric, Realm: Antonidas, Battlegroup: Emberstorm.